Jaswant eyes return to BJP; meets Advani, Rajnath

For the first time after being expelled from the BJP, Jaswant Singh, who was a cabinet minister in the NDA government, met senior party leader LK Advani at his residence on Friday triggering speculation of his comeback to the party.

BJP insiders said that Singh,who was expelled from the BJP after he refused to withdraw his candidature from the Barmer seat against the party’s official candidate, spent 30 minutes with Advani.

After being denied a ticket from Barmer, Singh contested as an Independent and lost by a margin of 87,461 votes.

Despite rumours that Singh not only raked up the issue of his rejoining the party at the meeting but also discussed the political future of his son Manavendra — a sitting MLA from Rajasthan — BJP insiders said that it was just a “courtesy meeting” between the leaders who have known each other for a long time.

Singh had earlier blamed the BJP for becoming a party of “one-man leadership” confined to a “small coterie chosen by one personality” and had ruled out the possibility of returning to the party fold.

The expelled leader’s son, Manavendra was also removed from the membership of the BJP National Executive following reports that he was campaigning for his father in Barmer.